A WITCH doctor outside the village surgery, an angel on the parish church roof and a crashed parachutist were just a few of the oddball sights to be seen in Wrenbury over the past few days.

A WITCH doctor outside the village surgery, an angel on the parish church roof and a crashed parachutist were just a few of the oddball sights to be seen in Wrenbury over the past few days.

All the strange figures were part of the massive Wrenbury Scarecrow Trail which took place throughout the week, attracting several thousand visitors to the village.

Posh and Becks could also be viewed and Mary Poppins was there as everyone in the village joined in the fun.

Organised by Friends of Wrenbury School, the event raised more than #4,000 for school funds.

The Mayor of Crewe and Nantwich, Terry Beard, judged the event and also handed out prizes at a summer fair held in the school grounds, which rounded off the week on Sunday.

The winner was Send in the Clowns, by Beryl Jones, of Nantwich Road, Wrenbury; second was The Twitcher by the Davies family of Oakfield Avenue, Wrenbury; and third Captain Hook by Patrick McMillan, of Wrenbury Heath.

The best commercial prize went to Bride and Groom by Ann Jones of Wrenbury Hall, and the 'out of village' award went to Mr Bacon the Butcher by William Blackshaw, of Baddiley.

Friends of the School secretary Chris Spicer said: 'There were 128 official scarecrows and many others which unfortunately were made too late to take part in the judging.

'But the nice thing was that everyone joined in and we were amazed just how many people came through the village during the week to see them.

'There were certainly several thousand, taking the week as a whole, so next year's event will have to be bigger and better to keep them coming.'

n A seven-foot tall librarian spent 24 hours a day sitting on six giant books at Wrenbury's village green as part of the fun

The sculpture ­ named Lolita ­ was part of the Scarecrow Village Trail and was created from straw, papier mache, bottle tops and wood by county council employee Tom Appleby who runs the South West Cheshire Area Mobile Library Service.

'I must admit that I had some very strange looks from people who could see me building the scarecrow in my garage,' said Tom, a former graphic designer who created the eye-catching sculpture in his spare time.

? Photographs of all the scarecrows from this year's competition will be posted on the village website ­- www.wrenbury-village.co.uk -­ in the next couple of days.